heart too much, that, like Daniel in Babylon's court, you are "set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that of yourselves you cannot stand upright:" you need to pray daily for that strength and protection which will carry you through all temptations." A fortress may be assailed many a day with feeble, irresolute, tentative attacks; but then there comes the storming day, by which the campaign is decided; the day that will put stress and strain upon every bastion and battery. And so it may be with all; it will be with many. Satan will long prepare his approaches; long watch for the unguarded point by which he may enter to hurt your soul. That roaring lion does not always roar, but lurks and prowls to steal access. Who then is he that can disappoint his stratagems, and destroy his works? Is it not He of whom it is said, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil"? It makes us tremble to think, not of the open attacks so much, but the insidious guiles to which so many of you are daily exposed. But there is a hidden place under the wings Divine, where that wicked one cannot touch you. Hidden there, your soul will have the same horror of all defilement which Daniel had. The eye of the soul that would see God must be kept very clear. "He that dwelleth under the defence of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."+ Say not, I am too weak; I have a frail nature; I must give in. 66 "I am the Almighty God," says the Lord, your God; and whilst you "abide under the shadow of the Almighty," His omnipotence is yours. Only lie not indolent and * I John iii. 8. ‡ Gen. xvii. I. + Ps. xci. 1. helpless at the pool, but seek the stirring of the water. Remember how Daniel put it upon his heart that he would not defile himself; and when a man puts it upon his heart, and goes to God in Christ for strength, it is wonderful what a strength there is. For then it is the purpose, not of an hour or a day, but of a life. Heroic acts of resistance made to sin are not single acts. The strength of the believer is established, is consolidated, by a course of consistency in little duties and daily trials. The great and heroic action of Christian manliness is not the first in the series, but in little things first there is a delicacy, a sensitiveness about doing what is wrong, and thinking what is impure. It is in the same way that sin makes its advances by little and little: the immodest look, the loose word, then the criminal action, the sinful indulgence. But with the everlasting arms of the Almighty underneath, you shall be led gradually and surely upward. "The way of life is above to the wise, that he may depart from hell beneath.”* With such a strength as yours may be, in the God whom young Daniel feared and served, say not that weakness and vacillation of purpose is necessary to you, is inseparable from your condition on earth. It would be so, if the powers of the world to come could not be brought to bear on your earthly life. It would be so, if the arms of your hands could not be "made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob," + if we went on this warfare at our own cost, with weapons of defence of our own making. It would be so, if your hearts might not be a temple of God Almighty, by His indwelling Spirit. But if this is so, and some of you can testify to it of your own experience, as of any + Gen. xlix. 24. * Prov. xv. 24. facts of your daily life, then rest not content, as many Christians are, with feeble complainings of the weakness of your resistance, with sighing over your irresolute will, and your oft-defeated resolve; but believe in the thorough truth of that word, "He giveth more grace." "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." ↑ "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able." + We may be able hereafter to look on to the after history of Daniel, and to see how abundantly realized his early promise was, how he held on his way, and waxed stronger and stronger; showing how "the Lord taketh pleasure in His people, and beautifies the meek with salvation." § Had Daniel yielded for the present, and said, I shall hold my own by-and-by under better and more favourable circumstances, his name would not have been handed on from age to age of the Church of God, as one of those who " 'stopped the mouths of lions."|| Dear brethren, it is your present trial which you must meet; it is in to-day's conflict that you must be conquerors, if you would look to meet the harder and heavier of to-morrow." "If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Fordan?" You must put your hand to the plough now, and look on with unswerving, undeviating eye, if you would hope to be kept pure amid the world's defilements; hearty and zealous amidst its chills and discourage* James iv. 6. + 2 Cor. xii. 9. I Cor. x. 13. § Ps. cxlix. 4. || Heb. xi. 33. ¶ Jer. xii. 5. 66 ments; steadfast amidst the wavering and irresolute. It is our Master's own law, "Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things."* Only lose not sight of your true strength: They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb."+ So like Daniel shall it be said to you, "Thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days." So shall you be able humbly to testify, as St. Paul, at the close of his career: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." § *Matt. xxv. 21. ‡ Dan. xii. 13. XIX. The Sower of the Good Seed, and the Reserbed Verdict. MATT. xiii. 28, 29. "He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them." A GREAT deal of ingenuity and subtle interpretation has been wrung out of the words of this parable. We shall advert to none of these to-night, but try to point out some of the plain solid truths which, without any forcing or torturing, it appears evidently to contain; and which may be found by some applicable to present needs. It stands in very remarkable contrast to the parable that went before it, that of the sower and the seed that fell on various kinds of ground, with as various results; for in this both the sower and the seed are quite different from that: there are several entirely new elements introduced, such as the sower of tares, the servants, the tares, and the reapers. The other took us as far as the time of putting forth the fruit, and then left us; this carries us farther on, even to the final disposal, the sequel, whether it be the garner stacked with the rich ingathered fruits, or the tares ignominiously bound in bundles and made fuel for the devouring flame. And it is strange, too, that the very point in the parable which has made it most notable |